Belief is Not Justice

“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.” – Margaret Thatcher

If a Senator wishes to vote against a judicial nominee there is no need to grandstand except to use it for fundraising. Yet with this fiasco the Democrats unleashed the best fundraising tool the Republicans could imagine. Lindsey Graham’s outrage video is going viral and will do wonders for the GOP in the midterms. It was the Joseph Welch moment this moment called for.

With Bork, Thomas and now Kavanaugh the Democrats have established a pattern that excludes decency. The #MeToo movement has now debased legitimate grievance for political gain. Without clarity such movements are doomed to go too far.

If you “believe” she was absolutely telling the truth, then you would have to also believe that Kavanaugh was committing perjury. He should then be removed from public office and prosecuted. That fact that you are willing to ‘believe ‘ this rather than require any evidence other than an accusation also means that we do not need a system of justice or due process.

The left believed Anita Hill. Yet they chose not to believe Paula Jones and Juanita Broaderick. They attacked them without mercy, something you can get by “dragging a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park.”

If there was ever a case to be made that politics has replaced religion as the preferred faith of the left it is the use of the word “believe” in determining legal liability. They believe because the want to believe. They want to believe they opposition is so sinister and evil that no evidence is required.

This disgraceful tactic was doomed to backfire as it did with Clarence Thomas. They learn nothing.

The stakes go beyond Judge Kavanaugh. A “no” vote now equals public approval of every underhanded tactic deployed by the left in recent weeks. It’s a green light to send coat hangers and rape threats to Sen. Susan Collins and her staff. It is a sanction to the mob that drove Sen. Ted Cruz and his wife out of a restaurant. It is an endorsement of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who kept the charge secret for weeks until she could use it to ambush the nominee with last-minute, unverified claims. It’s approval of the release of confidential committee material (hello, Spartacus), the overthrow of regular Senate order, and Twitterrule. It’s authorization for a now thoroughly unprofessional press corps to continue crafting stories that rest on anonymous accusers and that twist innuendo into gang rapes. A vote against Brett Kavanaugh is a vote for Michael Avenatti. No senator can hide from this reality. There is no muddy middle.

The stakes go even further, to the core of this country’s principles. To vote against Judge Kavanaugh now is to overthrow due process. Contrary to Democrats’ claims, due process is not constrained to courts of law; it is central to employee discipline, professional standards of conduct, even evictions of tenants. It is owed to any individual in a civilized body politic. Under due process, the accuser has the burden of proof. Ms. Ford has not met the evidentiary standard even of a civil proceeding, the preponderance of evidence—yet this case is more significant than any that has been dealt with in a court of law for ages. How the Senate votes now will reverberate to all levels of society. A “no” vote on Judge Kavanaugh is an authorization to renew calls for a Justice Clarence Thomas to step down.It is an authorization to derail the life of any white-collar manager or blue-collar crew boss who is ever subject to a single uncorroborated allegation.